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Sunday, February 10, 2019

This is my historical costuming resolution for 2019 and beyond: YOU DO YOU.

YOU DO YOU Historical Costuming Resolution

It's been over a year since my first historical costuming resolution of YOU DO YOU. I decided to make this follow-up post as part of my #sewhonestsunday post this week. I'm happy to say that my resolution to focus on finding JOY in historical costuming has been successful. I'm having FUN at events, FUN sewing, FUN designing & creating historic jewelry, FUN with my hobby and FUN with my business! Now this doesn't mean that it's not hard work or that I don't encounter set-backs, we all experience those, but my resolution to focus on surrounding myself with others who believe in YOU DO YOU has been a success! I have met new friends, hung out with old friends too, said goodbye to some and hello to others. I'm doing what makes me happy and I'm loving it! And it's all been totally worth it.

I believe I've seen positive change in our community, as I have seen others stand up or continue to stand up for themselves and others, and nip bad behavior in the bud, and encourage new folks to take part in historic costuming, costuming, cosplay and re-enacting on their own terms and to have fun with it. And others who have blogged about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors - I'm so glad to know you! Unfortunately I have also seen negative behaviors and excuses: if you are reading this and feel like this is directed at you (it's not), maybe it is time for some self introspection? That's your thing. This follow-up to my You Do You resolution is about my continued resolution and sharing this encouragement with others.

YOU DO YOU is my focus and a resolution on FUN, encouragement and positivity. That I will stand up for myself and others, and this includes making choices with how I spend my resources: my time, my money and my energy. That I believe in honesty, honesty that is gentled with kindness and openness to change and understanding others perspectives. I value different opinions and perspectives, and respect those who base their opinions on honesty, logic and empathy towards others. Personally I choose to support being part of a community that is centered on positivity, encouragement and FUN. My time, energy, and money is focused there. I support costumers and businesses that I see being kind, positive and respectful: respect is key, in public and in private. Respect others or lose others respect.

It's time to make my goals clear, to be really open and honest about what I want and what I don't want, here on this #sewhonestsunday in February 2019. I want to have fun. I want to hang out with friends who want to have fun. I want to continue to learn about history. I want to continue to challenge myself to learn new things and take on new skills. I want to support others pursuing the same goals. I want to encourage others and be encouraged. And I want to achieve my goals, in costuming, in business, in life. FUN is defined as laughing, talking, sharing, enjoying and experiencing history and historical costuming together. It's about encouraging others to join in, at whatever level, whatever budget, using whatever material and in whatever way they can. It's about sewing things together. Experiencing things together. Cheering each other on. Being happy about each others successes. Respecting each other's choices. That is what my goal is about and what I'm about.

Fun is NOT: snarking, jealousy, lacking empathy, creating needless drama, making excuses, being hypocritical or manipulative. These are the bad human behaviors that we should be avoiding. We find nice things to say or we say nothing at all. It's ok to remove yourself from a situation because it's not you. It's ok to make choices and set your own priorities, and determine how you want to spend YOUR time, energy and money. We all have different goals, and that's ok! Different goals mean different priorities. Again, my journey is focused on fun, learning skills and taking on new challenges, and having fun with others who have the same goals: I hope many of you are on the same path with the same priorities and we'll journey along together!

I am continually striving for creativity and success and I'm cheering you on for creativity and success too! I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who believes in "You Do You", who supports kindness and fun and newcomers: you are amazing and you deserve joy and happiness and success! I'm here rooting for you! And also a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has or plans to join in with #sewhonestsunday - let's share honestly in kindness and with respect about our process, tips and tricks, challenges and how we overcome them to create our finished outfits, a community in pursuit of FUN!

I said this in my first resolution and it rings just as true today. Personally I'm done rewarding or ignoring bad behavior. I'm resolved to (continue to) take back my enjoyment in this hobby. I hope you join me. Historical Costuming = FUN = YOU DO YOU.

Monday, January 14, 2019

My sewing plans for 2019 include a few new outfits for events, some foundation garments, fun accessories and fun outerwear. I plan to sew with ALL stash fabric, de-stash fabric, supplies and costumes, and organize, and also not add to my stash (2019 is STASH ONLY year!). I need to make a new Regency corset in 2019, and also want to make natural form bustle foundations. I also plan to spend a lot of time on historic jewelry design and creation for my Etsy shop, LadyDetalle.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

2018 Sewing YEAR in REVIEW:
I had some really productive sewing in 2018, including the CoCo sewing below!

Costume College Outfits from 2018 (Photos by InTheLongRun)

In 2018 I made three bustles, one 1880's bustle and two early 1870's bustles, a Regency day gown, a sleeveless spenser, two Regency evening gowns, an Edwardian skirt, a late 18th century jacket, foundations of a Victorian bustle under petticoat and a bustle lower skirt support, plus accessories and a TON of historic jewelry - a very productive 2018! That said, the majority of the sewing happened January to July, and very little sewing happened August to December, life, eh. Pictures and more details below!

Sunday, January 6, 2019

We're so excited to announce a new weekly Instagram challenge for 2019!

TheLadyDetalle and A Frivolous Distinction and have partnered together for the "SEW HONEST SUNDAY" Instagram weekly challenge!

SEW HONEST SUNDAY is all about the real deal, that Historical Costuming = FUN!

It's about the background process of what we sew and create, it's posting the reality behind perfection, the ups and the downs. It's all about staring a wider discussion and expressing honesty to ourselves and to the community, about HOW we sew and HOW we costume and do the things we do, allowing us to connect more as a community, inspire each other and welcome others to join in the fun community with us!

Sunday is often a day when many of us sew, so it's a great time to snap a quick photo of your in-progress sewing, both the things that went right and the things that didn't go so right, your process, sewing space, or post a finished costume or event picture and tell a story about how you got there.

Sew Honest Sunday: Post your in-progress photos, what patterns you use, the mockups you make or don't make, the shortcuts, the fixes, the safety pins, zippers, velcro, false foundations, the mistakes, or the ups and downs. Share your process, your creativity, your sewing space, your hacks, your shenanigans, the yard sale or thrift shop fabric or supplies, accessories you use for multiple eras, share those not perfect photos, as well as the good ones! How you build your hairstyles or the layers of your ensembles. However you share your sewing honestly, this is a wide open tag and challenge so what you share is up to you and it's open to everyone who wants to join in.

Let's together post about what we do to have fun in this hobby, let's have courage ourselves and give courage to others to join us. Let's have FUN being honest together, Sew Honest Sunday!

If you'd like to join in, simply post and share something that falls in the challenge on a Sunday and use the #sewhonestsunday tag. It's that simple!

You can post multiple times on Sunday or once every Sunday or just join in once in awhile when you can or feel so inspired!

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

I had a great time at Costume College this year. I'm super late at getting this post up (uh, hello, it's now January 1st, lol). Although honestly even having a great time at CoCo this year, it was a bit of a rough year - I had something going on at home that kept me very occupied throughout the few days, and I was also really jet-lagged more than usual this year. All the stress of lots of focused sewing and jewelry making leading up to Costume College, plus the life stuff, meant that while I had a really great time, I also spent much of the weekend a bit stressed and tired (look closely at my eyes in the photos - you can see the tired). It's always a blast to be around so many wonderful and inspiring people though, and see so many friends as well as meet new ones!

Here's my outfits for Costume College 2018!

The Lady Detalle ensembles for Costume College 2018
(Photos by InTheLongRun)

From L to R top, L to R bottom: Thursday night, Friday night, Friday day, Saturday day, Saturday day, Sunday - I made 3 ensembles just for Costume College and made my own jewelry parures or demi parures for all of them!

Thursday was a busy day as we went fabric shopping in the L.A. Fashion District during the day, before coming back and dressing for the evening!

For me, Thursday night was all about my FIRE jewelry from LadyDetalle. I found a small stash of (pricey!) discontinued fire opals from Swarovski, which I used to create a parure of necklace, earrings, two bracelets and a ring. Basically I planned an entire outfit around the fire stones I found, lol!
I also scouted down a vintage silk dupatta from India in a lovely dark yellow and red with a bit of orange tones that looked like fire.

I joyously paired these things with my black dress bought on Amazon earlier this year (it's roughly Downton Abbey style) and it's come in handy: I first wore it for the last minute Downton Dinner in January (no time to make anything new) and I wore it again post-CoCo for the Downton Fancy Dinner during the Downton Weekend. Lots of us already for a $30+ dollar dress. ;)

Basically Thursday night was a blur of getting to meet some lovely customers, see some old friends and just enjoy the start of the long weekend! It's always a bit hard to mingle with such large crowds as I'm an introvert (an extroverted introvert, but an introvert nonetheless). That said, I really had a lovely time and enjoyed seeing so many lovely and creative outfits!

I made this summer bustle for Kat's Victorian At the Races party this summer. I wanted to add a bit more pleated trim before I wore it this second time, but I ran out of time, so instead I settled for necessary fixes to shorten the front of the main skirt a bit (so I didn't trip when I walked) and re-ironing some pleats that had relaxed in the humid weather. This was really fun to wear, but I felt pretty jet-lagged Friday day, so if I looked tired or didn't respond quickly, I was a bit out of it, lol. I wore AD Balmorals with this and my evening gown: I love them, so comfortable!

Friday evening I re-wore my Teal and gold 1880's bustle from two silk sari's which I started in late December 2017 and finished in January 2018 - and wore to Carolyn's Holiday tea.

I absolutely adore my jewelry demi parure I made to go with this for Costume College: a necklace, earrings and matching ring of stunning hard-to-find vintage madiera stones! I think I may have found enough stones to make one more.

I wore this to the Friday night social, and I just love this dress, how it flows, the fun sari fringe trim that I used to create a bit of a train: I really enjoying wearing this dress and feel like a bit like a teal peacock in it, lol.

I had a great time chatting with all sorts of folks, checking out all the lovely outfits and meeting a few folks I know from IG or who know me from IG - it was great to meet so many of you in person!

First up, for the daytime, I wore my bib or apron front gown made from a mustard design stripe cotton from Treadle Quilt Shop in MN - 100% hand sewn, this one was started in May during a Burnley & Trowbridge workshop, and finished in the months coming up to CoCo! I also made a sleeveless spenser out of my leftover bee silk brocade fabric that my court train was made from in 2016. I added triangle trim to give it some interest, and paired it with my "Josephine" black BEE demi parure: necklace and matching earrings. I also wore a vintage silk mustard and black shawl (dupatta) from India and a vintage German metal gold wreath tiara (a vintage wedding tiara from the 1950's I believe) that I acquired from Judy. I wore my AD Hartfields.

I really enjoyed wearing this for the first time! It was very comfortable and the ensemble was everything I was imagining it to be when designing and creating it, so yay. I look forward to wearing it again sometime.

I re-wore my BEE silk brocade in burgundy with gold bees COURT train, and made a a new dress to wear underneath, along with court sash, new tiara and demi parure.

My gown was mustard silk taffeta layered with vintage gold metallic embroidered net, which was a vintage embroidered net sari from India. I made a mustard yellow silk sash, royal orders, paired with an antique BEE buckle, a gold and cubic zirconia tiara and my "EMPRESS" garnet grapes and gold demi-parure by LadyDetalle. I also wore my American Duchess mustard painted pemberlies which I add glass grape shoe clips with embroidered net, for the evening. ;)

I was going for Empress Josephine just after being crowned, and was really happy with this re-wear and re-vamp of my Regency BEE Court ensemble!

The Gala was really fun - the food was fine, the company was great, I enjoyed the entertainment, and then once it was time for the dancing, I opted to head out to the front room and chat with folks: I chatted with friends and met so many great folks and was excited to meet folks wearing tiaras and jewelry from LadyDetalle! (oh, how exciting and fun!). It was a wonderful evening!

I've been wanting to do a dress of wrong ever since I attended Costume Con in 2009, when friends made a Hello Kitty late 18th century and a John Deer bustle! I was super excited to find that there was a lot of interest in joining the group, and we ended up with a nice-sized group of ladies who each made or wore a dress based on the premise above!

Strawberry shortcake late 18th century, a Steelers royal bustle, the Queen in a dressing gown, Beauty & the Beast late 18th century and more: I had SUCH a fun time with this group and with making and wearing my DoW outfit.

I found a lovely fashion plate ladies fabric on Etsy that was mid to late 18th century women: it was listed as "Victorian women", so I figured it would be MOST appropriate to make an 1870's trained bustle out of this fashion plate fabric, paired with a vintage silk sari!

Got Grapes - anyone who has or wants LadyDetalle grape jewelry or who loves grapes or wine! ;)

Royal YOU - royal you collection of LadyDetalle jewelry and also anyone who feels royal!

TheLady Detalle ensembles from Costume College 2018

I had a LOT of fun this year, despite the life stuff, as evidenced by the silly photos above, also captured by InTheLongRun (my roomie) - thanks for the great photos, Gloria! I'm looking forward to going again in a couple of years, and I will truly miss everyone in 2019, since I'm not able to go this next year (we have other travel plans this year). I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's lovely ensembles and fun times though!

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Hey everyone!
I always get so excited when I start seeing annual gift giving guides: it's so much fun to see the various businesses grow and change over the years! There's so many wonderful businesses that cater to the historical costuming, re-enacting and cosplay communities, and in addition there are some great small businesses that provide quality supplies to these (and other) communities!

I decided to join in this year with a small Historical Sources Holiday Gift Guide introducing a few of my personal favorite sources where you can find great items this holiday season! Here's a short list of some of my go-to's for ready-made accessories, jewelry, supplies, fabric, silk ribbon, vintage and more!

Sewing patterns, fabric and supplies:Truly Victorian - Victorian patterns that are easy to follow, go together well, and Heather is helpful and responsive if you hit a snag and have a question96th district fabric - my go-to for coutil, and also wool, silk and silk ribbons - they are on my "must" list at Fort Frederick Market Fair every yearBurnley & Trowbridge - my go-to for my well-stocked basics like twill tape (white, black, etc. in mulitple sizes), wax, and linen thread, in addition to wool and silk fabrics, and a handkerchief line that is droolworthyFabricMartFabrics - keep an eye out for their amazing silk deals from time to time, where you can pick up stripes, plaids and checked silk taffeta for $8-12 a yardFabric-Store - my go-to for linen fabric, their selection of colors is impressive and their quality is greatSilkyWay - I've been purchasing silk ribbons from this supplier for years: quality, affordable and Anna is great to work with.TheSewingPlace- my go-to for Petersham ribbon: huge variety in widths and colors

Embroidery:RSN - worthy of a mention: their mission is to keep traditional embroidery techniques alive, and they offer multiple certificate and day courses across the globe, and also have a great gift shop and online storeGaribaldis Needle Works - great source for goldwork supplies, especially their gold passing (they source it from the UK)Sew Stine - this shop is taking a long break but Christine's machine embroidery digitizing is amazing and she's super great tooRomantic Recollections - Hand and machine embroidery designs from the lovely Denise

Vintage and Antique:Very Victorian Studio - amazing deals on antique and vintage finds and also stocks some handmade historical hats, reticules, etc. (I carry reticules and sashes from Very Victorian in Lady Detalle) - Linda is super nice and responsive and is a long-time historical costumer herselfSouthern Lady Estates - great finds at great deal prices and very responsive and helpful

Totally worth a mention: I also love these businesses for their outlook, dedication to historical accuracy AND fun, and how they provide encouragement to folks to join in our fun community! Historical Sewing - Jennifer makes it her mission to help others with sewing and creating their visions: she is so encouraging and super nice to boot!TheDreamstress - I love her patterns and designs, and her Historical Sew Forthnightly/Monthly is spot on with encouraging folks to research and create: she's also a huge sweetheart!
If you're looking for a little girl's princess dress or awesome hard-to-find Harry Potter fabric, check out Lady Rebecca Fashions on Etsy

Also worth a mention, two small businesses that I haven't personally purchased from yet, but whom I love seeing their lovely creations (and plan to purchase in future):Virgils Fine Goods - her tiny hand-rolled silk and linen hems on her Colonial and Georgian caps are lovely, all handmade by the lovely AmberShocking Bad Hats - gorgeous designs by Rebecca, each one is truly a treat for the eye! Some day I won't be able to control my drool...lol

And lastly, my favorite item this holiday season:Royal Vintage - this is my first purchase from the retro side of American Duchess, but I'm in love with the comfort and style of these Retro Aspen Winter boots in red - I just wish they were on sale!

And of course, I love to drink TEA while I sew! This is my tea brand, Regency Tea, visit for customer favorites Cream Earl Grey or Sticky Toffee Pudding!

This is definitely by no-means an all-inclusive list, but I hope that by sharing some of my favorites shops and sources with you, you'll get some new places to check to fill your historic costuming needs, or purchase a great gift for the historical costumer in your life!